Long Time Coming. Short Writings from Zimbabwe

Imac

Description

Long Time Coming brings together short stories and poems from thirty-three writers that provide snapshots of this turbulent period in Zimbabwe's history. Snapshots of living in a country where basic services have crumbled: where shops have no food, taps no water, banks no money, hospitals no drugs, bars no beer. Snapshots of characters surviving against seemingly insurmountable odds. Horrific snapshots of the abuse of power, of violence and oppression, of the destruction of dreams. But this is Zimbabwe and there are lighter moments and moments of hope: in some of life's simple pleasures, in the coming of the rains, in the wink and the smile of a stranger, in a challenge to patriarchy, in the inner strength of the people, in fighting back. The writers are Raisedon Baya, Wim Boswinkel, Diana Charsley, Brian Chikwava, Julius Chingono, Mathew Chokuwenga, Bhekilizwe Dube, John Eppel, Peter Finch, Petina Gappah, David Goodwin, Anne Simone Hutton, Monireh Jassat, Ignatius Mabasa, Fungai Rufaro Machirori, Judy Maposa, Deon Marcus, Christopher Mlalazi, Gothataone Moeng, Wame Molefhe, Linda Msebele, Mzana Mthimkhulu, Peter Ncube, Thabisani Ndlovu, Pathisa Nyathi, Andrew Pocock, John S. Read, Bryony Rheam, Lloyd Robson, Ian Rowlands, Owen Sheers, Chaltone Tshabangu and Sandisile Tshuma.

Sujets

• Literature

Informations

• Publié par: amabooks
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780797443402
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Long Time Coming

It’s been a long, a long time coming But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

Lyrics fromA Change is Gonna Comeby Sam Cooke Smart Lyrics 2008

Long Time Coming

Short Writings from Zimbabwe

edited by Jane Morris

’amaBooks

ISBN 978-0-7974-3644-2 EAN 9780797436442

This collection: ’amaBooks, 2008

Each contribution remains the copyright of the author

Published by ’amaBooks P.O. Box AC1066, Ascot, Bulawayo email: [e-mail] www.amabooksbyo.com

Typeset by ’amaBooks Printed by Automation Business Forms, Bulawayo

Cover Painting: Charles Nkomo Cover Design: Veena Bhana

’amaBooks would like to express their thanks to HIVOS and the Zimbabwe Culture Trust Fund for making this publication possible, and to Alliance Française de Bulawayo for continuing support.

Safari, by Owen Sheers, was previously published by Hay Festival Press in 2007. Copyright © 2007 Owen Sheers. Reproduced by permission of the author c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd., 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN. This work is copyright and has been recorded for the sole use of people with print disabilities. No unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording is permitted. The Cracked, Pink Lips of Rosie’s Bridegroom, by Petina Gappah, was previously published inThe Zimbabwean.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Contents

Sandisile Tshuma

Bababulele

31

36

10

18

The Cracked, Pink Lips of Rosie’s Bridegroom Echoes of Silence

The Awards Ceremony

46

The Chicken Bus

Innocence

51

Hwange

Mathew Chokuwenga

Christopher Mlalazi

Justice

66

57

Julius Chingono

58

Wim Boswinkel

Brian Chikwava

Peter Ncube

Andrew Pocock

Peter Finch

Linda Msebele

Julius Chingono

Petina Gappah

17

32

Raisedon Baya

Arrested Development

Bus Fare

42

Fiction

47

Ian Rowlands

King of Bums

Judy Maposa

10 Lanigan Avenue

My Country

John Eppel

1

22

John S. Read

7

25

Looking for the Southern Cross

The First Lady’s Yellow Shoes

First Rain

Six Pack

Rum and Still Waters

Some Kind of Madness

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Not Slaves to Fashion

Poetry is…

Loving the Self

David Goodwin

124

133

141

Stampede

109

103

Contributors

Who Knows What Season Tomorrow Brings

John Eppel

81

85

Pathisa Nyathi

Bhekilizwe Dube

Chaltone Tshabangu

Diana Charsley

Bryony Rheam

Mzana Mthimkhulu

Gothataone Moeng

Deon Marcus

Owen Sheers

Wame Molefhe

Lloyd Robson

Thabisani Ndlovu

Passing Villages

Vendor and Child

Ignatius Mabasa

Anne Simone Hutton

Monireh Jassat

Fungai Rufaro Machirori

A Study in Blue

105

127

Miss Parker and the Tugboat

84

Ignatius Mabasa

134

97

90

114

115

72

77

146

148

And the Rains Came

Pleasure

71

Safari

The Sadza Eaters

The Pencil Test

Rain in July

Arrested Development

Sandisile Tshuma

I have been standing at Max’s Garage for almost three hours trying to hitch a ride to Beitbridge. I am not the only one here though; there must be at least fifty people, maybe even a hundred. Or more, I don’t know, whatever; it’s hot and I am tired. The point is there is a sizeable crowd of would-be travellers with things to do and places to be and we are all waiting. Desperately. So much about life here and now entails waiting. If you are serious about life, if you are a go-getter and you want to make things happen then you need to know how to wait. Seriously. You take a deep breath, put your ‘game face’ on, brace yourself and wait. I had to wait two hours to get money from the bank to pay for my journey and now here I am waiting. Again. It’s what we do. We wait for transport, for electricity, for rain, for slow-speed internet connections at dingy cyber-cafes in town where we check our mail to see if a nifty little website has found us a job in Dubai or a scholarship to an obscure foreign university, or anything really to get us out of here. And there is never anything, mind you, but you know how hope is. It never dies. So we tell ourselves that there isn’t anythingyet. We’ll find a way out; in the meantime let’s wait. If you are serious about your life, about surviving, about the future, then you sow some seeds, invest in yourself and you wait. It’s my favourite oxymoron,arrested development. I am not hard to spot in this crowd at the barely functioning filling station. I am the sore-thumb of a twenty-something year old woman wearing high-end sunglasses and trendy jeans, carrying minimal luggage and standing in a statuesque pose that is supposed to convince motorists that I would be great company on a major road trip so they should stop for me. I have been here for

1